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Amid wide social and political unrest, authorities arrested former Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti Friday for her alleged links to a mass corruption scandal.
Baldetti was notified of the arrest warrant while in hospital for unspecified health reasons, according to Spanish news agency EFE.
Baldetti resigned as vice president May 8, after a mass customs fraud was unearthed. Known as “La Linea,” the graft was allegedly headed by Baldetti's private secretary, Juan Carlos Monzon Rojas, who is currently a fugitive.
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Fiscales del MP y PNC llegan al Centro Médico para la captura de Roxana Baldetti. F:ACruz pic.twitter.com/kBd2OFEUdH
— elPeriódico (@el_Periodico)
August 21, 2015
“Prosecutors of the attorney general’s office and national police arrive at the Medical Center to capture Roxana Baldetti.”
The investigation into this criminal structure was launched in May 2014 by the national ombudsperson and the U.N.'s commission against impunity in Guatemala, CICIG. Seized documents reveal that in just over two days in October 2014, the tax authority received around US$156,000, while the fraud network scooped close to US$72,000.
The investigation has so far led to the detention of 27 people and included 66,000 wiretapping sessions. A person mentioned during recorded conversations to do with La Linea is referred to as "R", "La 2" or "The Lady," nicknames which may correspond to Baldetti, EFE writes.
Guatemalan authorities have already seized three buildings owned by the former vice president, as well as US$770,000, which may become the property of the state if Baldetti is found guilty.
Baldetti has defended her innocence on several occasions.
Guatemala is experiencing widespread unrest, with many calling for the resignation of President Otto Perez Molina due to a number of high-level corruption scandals. Social movements have also called for electoral reform and a null vote in protest of the political crisis under the banner “in these conditions, we don’t want elections.”
Guatemala’s Congress voted to uphold President Otto Perez Molina's immunity last Thursday, halting a move to strip his protections and force him to face trial for corruption.
Large protests are ongoing, ahead of elections scheduled for September. The country is also suffering a severe drought — which is affecting much of Central America and the Caribbean — causing many to go hungy.
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